


Stupid adorable bloodthirsty Galra

by LaughterWrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Eventual Smut, Fluff, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Tags to be added, Youre kinda cute for someone so purple, but that title sucked so--, new title
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-11-18 17:42:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11295558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughterWrites/pseuds/LaughterWrites
Summary: Altea is at war with a cruel empire. The Galra win battle after battle, viciously slaughtering Alteans. Whenever the Galra loose, their soldiers flee. When captured they kill themselves before the Alteans can have the satisfaction of a public execution.When Princess Allura gets her hands on a Galra soldier she wants nothing more than to end it's life as ruthlessly as Zarkon killed her people.Leave it to Lance, Prince of Altea, to take a liking to the miserable creature.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally kinky self-indulgent smut but I decided to add a plot so I could work on writing Lance.  
> For some reason I write him the same way i wrote John Egbert when I was 13???  
> I'll get better I swear  
> •OFFICIAL BETA•
> 
> [Eve The Average](http://archiveofourown.org/users/EveTheAverage/pseuds/EveTheAverage)

It's the first thing that they teach you when you join the Galran army. When you get captured, you die. You poison yourself, slit your wrists, hang yourself, shoot yourself. Bang your head against the wall if you have to. Whatever it takes to be dead.  
  
Keith was never very excited about the idea to die for the empire. It actually seemed pretty... horrible, for lack of better word. Luckily, Galra soldiers didn't get captured.  
  
He agreed to be a fighter pilot.  
  
It was a rush, for a while.  
  
Then Altea and their damn lions took down his ship and his flight team.  
  
His Communications Technician and Engineer took each other out just as the ship was going down, while Keith just fumbled with his red flashing control panel, doing everything he possibly could.  
  
All in all it did nothing, as the Altean pod sweeping for survivors locked onto his vessel.  
  
His world went blurry as the pod's tractor beam dragged his ship to the bigger Altean space vessel. He screamed in anger, in frustration, completely overwhelmed by his idiotic inability to even off himself correctly.  
  
And now he's here. Cuffed between two Altean guards with guns pointed at his head. He considers pretending he's escaping so that they'll shoot him, but more likely than not they have some kind of high tech stun gun.  
  
He is, after all, Altea's first living prisoner.  
  
~  
  
Lance is bored.  
  
More than bored.  
  
Meetings of the Altean Council Of Fuckershittery went on for varga after varga. His sister, of course, is deeply involved in all the issues. All of them.  
  
Lance only had one issue, everyone at this meeting was either old or ugly. Or both. He internally groans and slumps in his seat.  
  
Maybe it'll be lunch soon.  
  
Or maybe something interesting will happen.  
  
Nobody except Allura cares about the tractor beam fuel capacity.  
  
Ughhh

Lance sits up and doodles another angry Galra on his Very Adult Notepad. He then sighs, tearing out the paper and shoving it in his pocket. Then he nudges his sister with his elbow.

"Pssst. 'Llura. Do you think I'll get to see a real Galra eventually?"  
  
Allura sighs, "Haven't you even been listening?" she hisses, "We finally captured one in a battle for that trade moon with the..."  
  
Lance tunes her out.  
  
They captured one? The Galra always committed suicide or fled on the rare occasion that a battle was lost. And yet... they caught one. Lance cuts off Allura's mumbling about the trade moon's battle. "Okay, okay. Yeah, whatever. Where is it now?"  
  
She huffs, annoyed with having been interrupted. "He's in a holding cell near the living blocks of the commanding guard officers."  
  
Lance bounces in his seat, drawing the attention of a few of the surrounding officials. "Can I go see it? Please? Pretty please? Please” he begs.

  
Allura glances at the people seated nearby, many of which have begun to glare at her and her brother.  
  
"Is there an issue?" The Council member who was giving his presentation on the tractor beam fuel asks, looking pointedly at Allura and Lance. Allura flushes until she matches the markings on her cheeks.  
  
"N-No, but... could I request a fifteen minute break? Lance feels uh... slightly ill... and is going to visit uh, the castle doctor?” Allura trails off and chewed at her lip.

  
The Presenter nods. "Of course, my Princess, but if it suits you and the Prince, may I continue after he has departed? I do not believe he has decision making capabilities in my field."  
  
Allura shoots Lance a look. "He should NOT be gone long, but yes, you may proceed." Lance smiles and hurries out the door and down the hallway before Allura can change her mind.  
  
"He didn't seem very ill..." the presenter mutters under his breath before pointing back at his chart.  
  
~  
  
Keith has been on the useless cot of a bed for hours now. It's just him, the pathetic bed, a bucket, four walls and a door. Truly a generic cell.  
  
Keith screams at the ceiling again.  
  
"FUCK YOU!!! FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU AND YOUR STUPID PLANET! YOU SAY EVERYBODY IS HAPPY ON ALTEA?! THAT'S BULLSHIT!"  
  
He is ignored. Again.  
  
He screeches in frustration.  
  
He knows there's guards there. Altea is too into their goddamn aesthetics to allow a cell to have any less than two well decorated guards standing outside the door. Even though their high tech cells don't open from the inside at all. And their stupid guards left him handcuffed. Stupid fucking peace loving assholes.  
  
He's about to scream again when he hears a murmur from the other side of the door.  
  
It's a low whine, followed by a gruff sigh. Another prisoner or… another guard with a stick? A taser? A gun!? Keith shrinks back against the wall. He won't go down without a fight, but he can't do anything but wait. There's another whine that sounds something like  "prince" or "please".

He hears a gruff sigh before the door slides open. Keith bares his teeth at the light. The thing making the whiny noises, as it turns out, is an Altean boy with a lopsided grin.  
  
Which is pretty fucking obvious. You're on Altea, Keith, get your shit together of course it's an Altean.  
  
The boy has light blue markings under his unnaturally blue eyes. Color contacts? Keith almost scoffs. The boy has short, unstyled white hair. Dyed? Probably. His clothing is way too colorful. He's dressed like a headache. Altea and their goddamn aesthetics. Even their executioners are gold plated. Keith bares his teeth once more and glares at the Altean. The gilded boy's smile falters.  
  
He tilts his head to look at the Galran. "Can't you talk? 'Lura said that when she was little there were Galrans in the castle all the time. You seem like an angry cat,” Lance rambles.

  
Keith stands as best he can with his cuffed hands. He walks up to the boy so they’re inches apart and looks down at him. A guard from the door trains his gun on Keith but the Altean waves him off.  
  
"Okay so you can at least understand me, huh?" says the boy. "Can. You. Taaaalk...?"  
  
Keith feels his eye twitch. He leans over to address the gilded kid face-to-face. "I hate you. I hate this planet. I refuse to tell you anything more than that."  
  
The boy's lopsided smile returns. "Aww, that's no fun. Also, wow, leaning over to talk to me. Not used to that. Here, one second!"  
  
He closes his eyes and starts to grow. Once he's the same height as Keith he opens one eye and sticks his tongue out in a playful wink.  
  
Keith stumbles back, almost falling over. "H-How did you...?"  
  
The boy shrugs. "Wanna answer my questions first?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh okay... what if I just..." He turns around and says something to the guard who tiredly nods and gives his blaster to the boy. Grin Boy steps back in the cell and the door slides closed behind him.  
  
Keith glares. "Shoot me already. Why'd they send a wimpy little executioner anyway?! Shoot me!"  
  
The boy looks at the blaster and then at Keith. "Um...? They just made me take this in case you try to like, kill me. It's set on stun anyway. Calm your tits, Galra."  
  
Keith shoots him a confused look. "...tits?"  
  
The Altean bites his lip to keep from laughing. "Oh quiznack you don't... okay okay- pffff-" He shakes his head. "You're too much, Galra." He walks over and sits on Keith's cot. "What's your name?"  
  
Keith frowns, shakily sitting on the floor. "I said I wouldn't answer your questions, Altean."  
  
He drums his fingers on the bed. "Okay... well I'm Lance." He stares at the bed, frowning. "I didn't know we even had blankets this bad..."  
  
"Wait..." Keith mumbles. "Lance? As in... Prince Lance? Legendary sharpshooter and co-ruler of the Altean Empire?"  
  
Lance grins, bouncing. "Do people really say that about me? That's so cool!!" he grabs the blaster and plays with it in his hands. "But yes, I am Prince Lance. Which is a stupid title, by the way. I prefer The Sharpshooter. Or maybe The Tailor. Or literally the hottest guy to grace the universe with his presence." He twists the gun around so it's lazily pointed at Keith's head. "So what's your name, Galra. If you're nice I might be able get those annoying things off you,” he smirks, pointing at the cuffs with the blaster.

  
"You seem to be forgetting that I fucking hate you."  
  
Lance shrugs. "Ooooh what an edgy purple boy. You know, in theory, I could shoot you," he glances up and notes Keith's glare. "I won't, though! I won't. But as long as you're useless the cuffs stay on. And I can't get you a better room... or at least better sheets..." Lance frowns at the bed again. "Like honestly; you don't off yourself even though you could've and they're still being horrible..."  
  
Keith rolls his eyes. "Oh yeah, they're totally gonna give their one Galran prisoner, a representative for the entire race that they hate, a golden comforter. Think more along the lines of torture. Interrogation. pain. They- you- are going to kill me, Lance. All because I couldn't kill myself fast enough."  
  
A voice comes through the door, "My Prince, they request your presence at the Royal Council meeting."  
  
Lance groans. "Tell them I'm deathly ill and have to spend the rest of today in a sleep chamber."  
  
The guards mumble between themselves. "Allura says you've spent enough time with the Galra."  
  
Lance rolls his eyes and drops the gun on the bed, walking to the door. "Tell my sister to shut her quiznack."  
  
"We are not allowed to address the Princess in that manner." The guard pauses. "Not to mention it doesn't quite make sense."  
  
Lance groans. "Just... Tell her I'm staying. I don't really care what you say. Something like... 'The beautiful Prince Lance has seduced the Galran and is about to get rad security deets.'"  
  
Keith chuckles despite himself. "Beautiful? Seduced? Do people seriously humor this shit?"  
  
"Shh!" Lance hisses, smiling. He turns back to the door. "Listen, I know I should be at the meeting. Just like… a few more dobashes?"  
  
The guard grumbles. Lance decides it's probably an affirmation. He turns around, smiling. Keith is on the bed, fumbling around with the gun. Lance steps back, against the door.  
  
"Galra... let's... not do that."  
  
Keith holds the gun as well as he can with his cuffed hands. "I'm not going to hurt you, Lance. I just need you to open these handcuffs. Can you do that?" He says quietly.  
  
Lance steps away from the door, holding his hands out towards Keith. "If you shoot me a million guards are going to rush in here and take you away. Okay? let's put the gun... down..."  
  
Keith shakes his head. "Uncuff me."  
  
Lance crosses his arms. "What's your name?"  
  
Keith sighs, lowering the gun. "My name is Keith. that work for you? Uncuff me."  
  
Lance walks over and gingerly takes the gun from Keith, who's reluctant to let it go but does anyway.  
  
Lance takes the cuffs in his hands, fiddling with them for a moment before they fall open with a click.  Keith rubs his wrists, looking at lance, who tosses the cuffs on the bed.  
  
_How can he be so cheery after I just threatened to shoot him_  
  
_This kid is a nutcase_  
  
Keith frowns at lance, sitting back on the floor. "i could kill you."  
  
Lance nods. "Lets not do that, kay?" he hums, sitting across from Keith with the gun in his lap. "Have you killed anyone before?"  
  
"Not answering you."  
  
Lance smirks, "When I leave in a few dobashes, I'll have to cuff you again so Allura doesn't shank me. Maybe if you're nice, I'll come back tomorrow."  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"Duly noted. What's your kill count, Galra?"  
  
Keith shrugs, "I've fired shots from my ship. Dunno if they hit. Once sliced someone up pretty bad in hand-to-hand but nobody told me if he died."  
  
Lance nods. "So ‘Lura could call you a murderer... I think that's just a life sentence..."  
  
"Just? I don't want to be here the rest of my life, Lance."  
  
Lance frowns. "So... you'd rather be... tortured and killed? You said yourself that ‘Lura will do that if she can. Going back isn't really an option. So you could die for being purple and firing a blaster, or you can stay here the rest of your life."  
  
"Like on this ship? Ugh that seems worse than death. Can I get out with a swift execution?"  
  
"They'd probably move you unless someone powerful decides they want to keep you. We wouldn't let Allura, obviously, but who knows. Maybe a council member wants a Galra. They'd be the talk of the town with someone purple trailing behind them..."  
  
"What do you mean, 'keep' me?"  
  
Lance plays with the blaster in his lap. "well like... back when there were gladiators on Altea, people could keep prisoners with life sentences or death penalties to fight in the ring," Lance explains, "People don't really gladiator fight anymore but life sentence prisoners are still put up for grabs, first to the most powerful on the imprisonment vessel and then, if the powerful guy decides he doesn't want it, the prisoner goes to the highest bidder."  
  
Keith nods slowly, his eyes blown wide with terror. "who do you think would bid highest?"  
  
Lance winks. "Doesn't matter."  
  
Keith practically wheezes. "Doesn't matter? The fuck do you mean? Of course it matters. If you end up somehow getting me out of a brutal execution, I'd like to know who's gonna have constant control of my life!"  
  
Lance rolls his eyes. “You're not going to the highest bidder, you're going to the most powerful on the ship."  
  
A guard yells through the door. "The Princess says to finish up, Prince."  
  
The Prince smiles and jumps over to the bed, grabbing the handcuffs. He walks back to where Keith is sitting and takes one of his hands, carefully snapping the cuff on.  
  
Keith, surprisingly, lets him. He can't help but shake as the cuff is secured. "Who's the most powerful on the ship?"  
  
Lance hums as he takes keith's other hand. "Let’s see... Alfor is off doing lion things... Allura isn't allowed since she's the one bringing up the charges, I think, so that leaves you with... me!"  
  
"Youre going to-"  
  
Lance smiles. "Stop talking."  
  
"Wha...?"  
  
Lance shoves Keith to the ground as the door opens. He stands over him and sneers. "You disgust me. If Allura hasn't already offed you by tomorrow, I'll be here," he kneels, straddling Keith's waist and grabbing the collar of his shirt, lifting him from the cell floor slightly. "And if you get out of this alive, I swear I'll make sure you wish you had never been born." Lance deftly slips a piece of paper into the collar of Keith's shirt before standing, dusting himself off, and walking away with the guard.  
  
After the door slides shut keith waits for a bit before gingerly reaching into his shirt and pulling out the paper. One side is covered in what seems to be angry, scribbly cats. The other is a scrawled note.  
  
"If they come for you tonight don't struggle. Trust me."  
  
~


	2. Chapter 2

Lance has spent a lot of time being bored in his life. It's just one of the painful things about being the prince of a whole planet. The rest of the Council meeting was just hellish. The very last thing they do is mention the trial for “the most obnoxious prisoner Altea has ever kept.” Lance does his best to seem as uninterested as possible. His notes, for once, make sense.

“Tomorrow… at… 5…” he mumbles as he writes.

Allura nudges his shoulder, smiling. “Taking interest, I see? Finally we have one of the monsters who has been killing our people. Don’t worry Lance, he won’t be here long. The guards told me about how you pushed him to the ground. You really shouldn’t get in the…”

Lance tunes her out, nodding and ‘mmhm’ing occasionally.

He scribbles half of what he hears onto the notepad.

“Galra… trial… justice… execution.”

He tunes back in. “Wait, what are we executing him for exactly?”

Allura rolls her eyes. “It’s a war, Lance. The trial is something of a… tradition. We’re getting our execution and we’re broadcasting it as far into the galaxy as we possibly can. Any galra ship that can pick up the signal will watch as we kill… hmm... Did you ever get his name?”

Lance pales, horrified that she could discuss the death of a living thing as if she was explaining the properties of a good cup of tea. “He- he wouldn’t say anything to me. Couldn’t we use him… for like… information?”

Allura chuckles, smiling. “Psh, what? Are you trying to save him? He's a fighter pilot from a three-man ship, he won't know anything.” Allura sighs. “I know that we’re… killing someone. But… We’re on opposite sides. This is just how wars work. They’ve killed us and now we kill them.”

Lance nods slowly, forcing a grin onto his face. “But what if we do something… even more humiliating?”

Allura frowns. “What are you…? What do you mean?”

Lance leans towards his sister. “Let me keep him.”

~

After the meeting, Lance is giddy. He bounces on the bed as he waits for the people to retrieve Keith. It wasn't cheap to pay off the guards but hopefully he gave them enough to keep them from blabbing to Allura. If not he’d make up an excuse. When he hears heavy footsteps approaching he forces a regal look into his face. He crosses his legs and folds his arms, trying to remember everything Allura told him about “having a regal presence.”

He hopes he doesn't look too stupid with his spine stiff and his nose turned up.

The guard knocks twice before letting himself in, dragging Keith behind him. The side of the Galra’s face is slightly cut but otherwise he looks no worse for wear than he did a few hours before. Lance has to keep himself from smiling when he sees Keith. The guard bows to Lance and motions towards Keith.

“Where do I put it.”

Lance nods his head to the area in front of him. “Drop him at my feet and then be on your way. I’ll have the rest of the money wired to your account immediately.”

The guard nods, dragging Keith over to Lance and unceremoniously dumping him on the floor. Keith hisses when he hits the ground but otherwise stays silent. Lance has to fight another smile when he thinks about Keith reading his note and actually listening.

The guard bows one last time before leaving the room, the door closing with a click. Lance grins ear to ear, sliding off the bed and taking Keith’s hands.

“You read my note! I'm so glad I managed to get you here,” Lance rambles as he fiddles with the handcuffs, “You know if you had struggled they might have knocked you out and I really didn't want you to be unconscious… or get a concussion! Do Galra get concussions?”

Keith looks at Lance incredulously, “You brought me into your… room?”

Lance nods, smiling. “Yeah! This is my suite. It's kind of a mess but that's because I don't let the staff clean in here. They always end up moving my stuff around,” Lance pouts, “But it's okay, right? I mean I don't think you care if it's all that messy.” He laughs triumphantly as the cuffs click off.

Keith rolls his wrists, frowning a bit. “You talk too much.”

“Yeah that's what all the pretty people tell me.”

Keith scrunches his eyebrows and goddamn if that isn't the cutest thing Lance has ever seen. “Are you… always this flirtatious?” Keith asks, scooting into a cross-legged position.

Lance shrugs, sitting on his knees and dropping the cuffs onto the floor. “Only when people are cute. Or, in your case, quiznacking adorable!”

Keith glares at Lance. “Why are you doing this? Is it information you want? My trust? I'll tell you one thing, Altean, your weird flirting will not get me to trust you.”

Lance frowns. “What? I don't need you to trust me. I'm flirting because it's fun. And because you need to loosen up, Galra.”

Keith grimaces. “I’ve told you my name. Why are you still calling me Galra?”

Lance throws his hands up. “Hell if I know! Listen, it doesn't matter anyway, I have actual things to discuss.”

“Why didn't you bring up the important stuff first?!”

“Screw you! Anyway, your trial is tomorrow at 5.”

Keith looks confused. “What time is 5? Is that morning or…?”

“It's the fifth Varga after our largest moon is at its highest point,” Lance explains.

Keith rubs his hands over his skull like he has a headache. “You… you do realize I don't understand that, right?”

“Uh…” Lance frowns. “It's morning time. Five varga after the middle of the night. So the sun is kinda up? But also it's the asscrack of dawn.” He stands up, offering a hand to Keith. “It's only the 15th Varga. We still have 10 Varga until it's time for you to go to court. We should get you changed.”

Keith takes Lance’s hand to stand up. “This seems like a bad idea. I'm all for being comfortable as royalty but I feel like I should be working on a way to… you know… not die? If you get caught I could be killed, right?”

Lance drags him into a small room off of the main one, filled mostly with clothes. The prince starts flipping through his options “Okay well… First off, you're not gonna die. This isn't a last meal or anything, this is just me trying to be nice because you don't seem like the sadistic, bloodthirsty Galra I grew up hearing about.”

Keith sits on a stool and takes a few shirts that Lance throws to him. “Woa, wait, Lance, backtrack for a minute, you're sure i'm not gonna die?”

Lance nods, throwing Keith a pair of pants. “Uh… yeah? Allura thinks it's a swell plan to have me parade around a Galra soldier. She thinks it’ll be like a big “Screw you!” to the Galran empire.”

“Oh so that's it,” Keith grumbles, catching more fabric that's been thrown at him. “You just want me as your war trophy.”

Lance walks over and stands next to Keith, ruffling the purple fur on his ears. “Yes and no,” he hums, looking at the clothes he threw. “You definitely deserve to be treasured like a trophy, pretty boy,” He chooses a shirt and pants, shoving the rest on the floor, “But to me, in here, you can be just Keith. Does that work?”

Keith nods, taking the clothes. “Whatever you say, my Prince,” he says, mimicking the Castle staff.

Lance smiles. “You know, I’ve always hated that title,” he ruffles Keith’s hair as he walks out, “But I think I’d be happy to be your Prince, Keith.”

The door shuts and Keith rolls his eyes, pulling off his torn and bloodied Galra uniform.

Lance has to be the dumbest world leader that Keith has ever seen.

~

When Keith steps out of the wardrobe, Lance giggles at the sight of him. A big, tough, bloodthirsty Galra soldier in a soft red t-shirt and a pair of loose sweat pants. Lance pulls Keith over to the side of his room with the bed where Keith was first dropped. Keith glares at the handcuffs on the floor next to the bed. Lance points to the foot of the bed.

“Sit over there for a second,” he says, letting go of Keith’s arm. Lance glances around as Keith warily sits on the bed.

 _What is this nut going to do_ , He thinks, poking at the ornate bedpost.

“Ah! Found it!” Lance giggles, walking over to Keith with the handcuffs in his hand. “Please don’t hate me for this.”

Keith is about to shoot up and punch Lance for even thinking he’d put those horrible cuffs back on willingly. Luckily he realizes how stupid that would be and lets Lance cuff him to the foot of the bed.

“I’ll be right back, okay? I just can’t have you run off. You’d leave for a minute and BLAM BLAM,” he mocks shooting a gun at Keith’s chest, “You’d be dead.”

Keith nods, waving Lance off with his free hand. “Yeah, whatever, just hurry up. Handcuffs suck.”

Lance nods, rushing into the wardrobe room.

~

Lance comes back out in a blue robe and slippers shaped like Voltron’s blue lion. Keith glares at the slippers like they personally ruined his life.

Lance sits next to him on the bed, twisting around the handcuff latch. Keith watches him, trying to memorize the pattern that he uses to open it. Unfortunately, Lance does it too fast for him to really understand how to undo the mechanism.

Once the cuff is off Keith’s wrist, Lance climbs over him to take it off the bedpost. He throws it on the floor again, before twisting over to lay in Keith’s lap.

“We should watch a movie,” he announces, smiling his stupidly cute lopsided grin.

 _I could crush him in my hands_ Keith thinks, staring at the prince.

Lance smiles, rolling off of Keith. “I’ll take that as a ‘Hell yes, Lance, I’d love to watch a movie with you!’”

_But I won’t._

~

“I hate the handcuffs, I absolutely refuse to wear them.”

Lance frowns. “I’ll have a cuff on too, it’s just to make sure you don’t run out there and get shot.”

Keith groans. “I thought we bonded over your movie! You crawled into my arms!”

Lance nods. “Yes, yes, and I regret none of that. After your trial tomorrow you’ll never have to wear them again, okay? Just for tonight. Please?”

Keith grumbles, sticking out his arm for Lance to clip the handcuff on.

~

They go to sleep as far apart as the cuffs’ chain will allow them to. It’s not exactly easy to sleep attached to someone else, but they both manage eventually.

~

When Lance’s alarm clock goes off at 4 Varga, Keith has found himself wrapped around the prince.

“Morning, sunshine~,” Lance singsongs. “Now, not to say I don't love having you right here, but do you mind letting me out? We have stuff to do today.”

Keith practically flings Lance from his arms, pulling himself off the bed.

“Stop, stop moving! We have to undo the cuffs you absolute idiot,” Lance yells as Keith practically drags him onto the floor.

Keith mumbles an apology and sits on the edge of the bed as his cuff is removed. “How long until my trial?”

Lance hums, struggling to unlatch the cuff from his own wrist. “One Varga. You should change back into your Galra uniform so nobody gets too suspicious.”

“Okay then.” He stands from the bed and walks over to the closet.

 _I could have put the other cuff on the bedpost and run out the door while he tried to get it off._  
_I could have cuffed his hands behind him and grabbed the blaster in his bedside drawer._  
_He could’ve been my hostage._  
 _I could have been free. Back to Shiro, back home._

_But I didn't._

~ 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact:  
> In this fic Shiro and Keith are not brothers  
> Hoo boy 
> 
> Anyone go to SDCC today? Sheith got fxcking murdered. RIP to the ship I actually liked a lot.

***  
Keith's Galra soldier uniform feels horribly uncomfortable after sleeping in Lance's fancy pajamas. He looks at himself in the mirror, tracing over scars where his purple skin is a mottled lavender. He used to be proud of these marks, proof that he had done something with his life. Proof he had served the Empire at risk of his life.

He's not sure he's proud of them anymore.

He traces a finger over the newer mark on his face, from the day before, sighing. He had really hoped Lance wouldn't ask about it but, of course, the little brat wasn't used to keeping his big mouth shut.

Lance had set up a pile of pillows and blankets in front of a large screen flickering through images of himself and his sister. In most of them he had his big ear-to-ear grin while Allura looked like she didn't want to be in the picture at all. He pointed out a side of the plush pile for Keith to sit in, fiddling with the screen. He whooped in triumph as it flickered away from the images and onto the opening of some Altean movie.

The movie wasn't bad, besides the fact that Keith didn't understand a lot of the terminology. Lance wasn't very keen on answering his questions, just laughing at him . Eventually, after hours (Vorgas? Altean time units are weird.) of movies, Lance had sprawled across Keith. He wasn’t sure exactly how to respond to the contact. His immediate thought was to throw Lance off him with a growl. That idea was overwhelmingly idiotic so he just leaned back, arms behind him to support his weight. He sat cross legged, Lance's head resting where his leg meets his hips. The prince's shoulder blades pressed against Keith's stomach. He tried to breathe in his chest rather than his stomach so as to not move Lance too much. He seemed completely entranced in the movie so Keith pretty much ignored him, thinking about escape and Shiro and home. He thought about watching movies with Shiro. He imagined it was Shiro with his head rested against his leg. He nearly chuckled at the thought. It was never Shiro sprawled against him, always him in Shiro's lap, talking with his hands, shouting about this commander or that. Shiro would smile, petting Keith's ears. He'd nod and nod, agreeing with everything Keith said. He'd smile when Keith looked up at him. Later, after he had calmed down, Shiro would press kisses to his cheek, saying the issues were only temporary. Keith would smile a little, a private smile, meant only for Shiro and nobody else. Shiro would take his hand carefully, pulling him-

No.

That’s gone.

It’s not Shiro with him.

It’s Lance.

Keith sighed, looking down at the boy in his lap who was still watching the movies. He repressed a growl as he stared at the boy who stole his life. Keith knew that Lance was trying to help. He knew that without Lance he'd be getting a death sentence rather than soft clothes and movie nights. But, right then, he had wished it were better. He had looked at Lance, the stupid, obnoxious prince, and hated him.

Lance had hummed, running a hand along Keith's leg.

"You're tense as fuck. Everything okay? You're not stressing about tomorrow, right? I told you I have it covered."

Keith nodded before realizing that Lance was still facing away from him. "Yeah I'm fine just... thinking about living here the rest of my life."

Lance turned over so that he could see Keith, hands resting on his stomach. He had smiled that lopsided grin that made him look like a little kid. "Well we might not always be here-here. Like, there’s stupid, boring meetings all over the galaxy. I go wherever Allura goes since I'm the younger one and she's heiress. She seems to enjoy going wherever she knows it'll be the most dull."

"I mean 'here' as in 'away from my home'."

"Oh. Right." Lance wove and unwove his fingers, staring intently at them.

Keith sighed, sitting up and cracking his wrists. "It’s fine though. I'm okay. Only a bit worse for wear, right?" He laughed dryly, moving his hand to play aimlessly with Lance's hair.

Lance frowned, reaching a hand up to trace against the scratch on Keith's face. The line goes from the side of his eye to the bottom of his ear. "A bit worse for wear...' Lance mumbled. "How did this happen, anyway?"

It was said as a question but Keith knew what it really meant. 'Tell me how this happened.' He sighed, drawing a clawed finger lightly over Lance's face, leaving a faint pink line. He followed the pattern on his own face, from the eye to the ear. "Claws are nasty. I was seeing what they'd do if I hurt myself like that. Like... maybe they'd take me to some healing thing or whatever. I thought if I got out of the cell I could see if they had escape pods or whatever." He laughed again. "Stupid plan, huh? I was too scared to do any real damage. All they did was wipe the blood away when you asked for me."

Lance frowned, running his own hand over where Keith's claw scratched. "If you're just covering for one of the guards hurting you I need to know. I can have them removed from position. Hell, after you're mine, if anyone so much as touches you without my permission I can have them jailed. They hurt you and I could get them killed." Lance sat up, wrapping his legs around Keith's middle. "Do you understand? Are you... okay with that? Jeez, sorry, that's kinda weird to ask... but... I guess I'm worried about you being all freaked out? There’s some heavy shit that comes with being owned by a prince."

Keith nodded. "Better than death, right? What do you mean... heavy?" He wrapped his arms around Lance, holding onto him.

Shiro is gone. Shiro is gone. Shiro is gone.

Lance is here.

Keith snaps back to the present, running hands over his torn uniform. Lance appears behind him, holding the cuffs and smiling again. Always the stupid smile. Always the stupid cuffs. "Hey dude, we gotta go soon. Don't worry though, you'll be in your cell a bit and then some dude will come in and announce that you have been saved by the glorious and generous Prince Lance. And then they'll change your clothes and bring you out for the ceremony."

Keith stares, confused, at Lance's reflection. "Slow down there. I'm not going to my own trial?"

Lance shakes his head. "No. Dunno why. Allura said not to. Said it wouldn't take long to rule that you're mine."

"Why am I being changed?"

"For the ceremony," Lance says like it’s the most obvious thing ever.

Keith turns to face Lance, his back against the wall. "What ceremony?"

Lance takes the cuff out, fastening it onto Keith. "Well, like, to make you officially mine, we have a ceremony. Everyone hates it but it’s tradition. There's usually hordes of people booing, it’s not too cool to own people. Almost nobody does it anymore, it pretty much marks you as a social outcast forever."

Keith shakes his head in disbelief. "Then why the hell are you keeping me?"

Lance fastens the other cuff, looking down to hide a sad smile. "Well... it’s not like everyone loves me, anyway. Allura is the ruler that everyone likes. I'm just The Brother With A Gun Who Can Never Fight. And 'llura wanted to kill you. It’s not too much of a choice." He leads Keith out of the wardrobe by the chain on the cuffs.

Keith trails behind the little prince quietly.

***

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry my updates are all wonky, my job is killing me

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are my drug
> 
> Feel free to fuel my addiction ♥︎


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